Measurements of 21 cm Epoch of Reionization (EoR) structure are subject to systematics originating from both the analysis and the observation conditions. Using 2013 data from the Murchison Widefield ...Array (MWA), we show the importance of mitigating both sources of contamination. A direct comparison between results from Beardsley et al. and our updated analysis demonstrates new precision techniques, lowering analysis systematics by a factor of 2.8 in power. We then further lower systematics by excising observations contaminated by ultra-faint RFI, reducing by an additional factor of 3.8 in power for the zenith pointing. With this enhanced analysis precision and newly developed RFI mitigation, we calculate a noise-dominated upper limit on the EoR structure of Δ2 ≤ 3.9 × 103 mK2 at k = 0.20 h Mpc−1 and z = 7 using 21 hr of data, improving previous MWA limits by almost an order of magnitude.
We present a sample of 1483 sources that display spectral peaks between 72 MHz and 1.4 GHz, selected from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey. The GLEAM ...survey is the widest fractional bandwidth all-sky survey to date, ideal for identifying peaked-spectrum sources at low radio frequencies. Our peaked-spectrum sources are the low-frequency analogs of gigahertz-peaked spectrum (GPS) and compact-steep spectrum (CSS) sources, which have been hypothesized to be the precursors to massive radio galaxies. Our sample more than doubles the number of known peaked-spectrum candidates, and 95% of our sample have a newly characterized spectral peak. We highlight that some GPS sources peaking above 5 GHz have had multiple epochs of nuclear activity, and we demonstrate the possibility of identifying high-redshift (z > 2) galaxies via steep optically thin spectral indices and low observed peak frequencies. The distribution of the optically thick spectral indices of our sample is consistent with past GPS/CSS samples but with a large dispersion, suggesting that the spectral peak is a product of an inhomogeneous environment that is individualistic. We find no dependence of observed peak frequency with redshift, consistent with the peaked-spectrum sample comprising both local CSS sources and high-redshift GPS sources. The 5 GHz luminosity distribution lacks the brightest GPS and CSS sources of previous samples, implying that a convolution of source evolution and redshift influences the type of peaked-spectrum sources identified below 1 GHz. Finally, we discuss sources with optically thick spectral indices that exceed the synchrotron self-absorption limit.
The compact configuration of Phase II of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) consists of both a redundant subarray and pseudo-random baselines, offering unique opportunities to perform sky-model and ...redundant interferometric calibration. The highly redundant hexagonal cores give improved power spectrum sensitivity. In this paper, we present the analysis of nearly 40 hr of data targeting one of the MWA's epoch of reionization (EoR) fields observed in 2016. We use both improved analysis techniques presented in Barry et al. and several additional techniques developed for this work, including data quality control methods and interferometric calibration approaches. We show the EoR power spectrum limits at redshift 6.5, 6.8, and 7.1 based on our deep analysis on this 40 hr data set. These limits span a range in k-space of 0.18 h Mpc−1 < k < 1.6 h Mpc−1, with a lowest measurement of Δ2 ≤ 2.39 × 103 mK2 at k = 0.59 h Mpc−1 and z = 6.5.
ABSTRACT
Observations in the lowest Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) band between 75 and 100 MHz have the potential to constrain the distribution of neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium at ...redshift ∼13–17. Using 15 h of MWA data, we analyse systematics in this band such as radio-frequency interference (RFI), ionospheric and wide field effects. By updating the position of point sources, we mitigate the direction-independent calibration error due to ionospheric offsets. Our calibration strategy is optimized for the lowest frequency bands by reducing the number of direction-dependent calibrators and taking into account radio sources within a wider field of view. We remove data polluted by systematics based on the RFI occupancy and ionospheric conditions, finally selecting 5.5 h of the cleanest data. Using these data, we obtain 2σ upper limits on the 21 cm power spectrum in the range of $0.1~ h~{\mathrm{ Mpc}}^{-1}\lessapprox k \lessapprox 1 ~ ~h~{\mathrm{ Mpc}}^{-1}$ and at z = 14.2, 15.2, and 16.5, with the lowest limit being $6.3\times 10^6 ~\rm mK^2$ at $k=0.14 ~h~{\mathrm{ Mpc}}^{-1}$ and at z = 15.2 with a possibility of a few per cent of signal loss due to direction-independent calibration.
Abstract
We compute the spherically averaged power spectrum from four seasons of data obtained for the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) project observed with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). We ...measure the EoR power spectrum over k = 0.07–3.0 h Mpc−1 at redshifts $z$ = 6.5–8.7. The largest aggregation of 110 h on EoR0 high band (3340 observations), yields a lowest measurement of (43 mK)2 = 1.8 × 103 mK2 at k = 0.14 h Mpc−1 and $z$ = 6.5 (2σ thermal noise plus sample variance). Using the Real-Time System to calibrate and the CHIPS pipeline to estimate power spectra, we select the best observations from the central five pointings within the 2013–2016 observing seasons, observing three independent fields and in two frequency bands. This yields 13 591 2-min snapshots (453 h), based on a quality assurance metric that measures ionospheric activity. We perform another cut to remove poorly calibrated data, based on power in the foreground-dominated and EoR-dominated regions of the two-dimensional power spectrum, reducing the set to 12 569 observations (419 h). These data are processed in groups of 20 observations, to retain the capacity to identify poor data, and used to analyse the evolution and structure of the data over field, frequency, and data quality. We subsequently choose the cleanest 8935 observations (298 h of data) to form integrated power spectra over the different fields, pointings, and redshift ranges.
ABSTRACT Detection of the cosmological neutral hydrogen signal from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) and estimation of its basic physical parameters are principal scientific aims of many current ...low-frequency radio telescopes. Here we describe the Cosmological H i Power Spectrum Estimator (CHIPS), an algorithm developed and implemented with data from the Murchison Widefield Array, to compute the two-dimensional and spherically-averaged power spectrum of brightness temperature fluctuations. The principal motivations for CHIPS are the application of realistic instrumental and foreground models to form the optimal estimator, thereby maximizing the likelihood of unbiased signal estimation, and allowing a full covariant understanding of the outputs. CHIPS employs an inverse-covariance weighting of the data through the maximum likelihood estimator, thereby allowing use of the full parameter space for signal estimation ("foreground suppression"). We describe the motivation for the algorithm, implementation, application to real and simulated data, and early outputs. Upon application to a set of 3 hr of data, we set a 2 upper limit on the EoR dimensionless power at Mpc−1 of mK2 in the redshift range z = 6.2-6.6, consistent with previous estimates.
ABSTRACT
Current attempts to measure the 21 cm power spectrum of neutral hydrogen during the epoch of reionization (EoR) are limited by systematics that produce measured upper limits above both the ...thermal noise and the expected cosmological signal. These systematics arise from a combination of observational, instrumental, and analysis effects. In order to further understand and mitigate these effects, it is instructive to explore different aspects of existing data sets. One such aspect is the choice of observing field. To date, MWA EoR observations have largely focused on the EoR0 field. In this work, we present a new detailed analysis of the EoR1 field. The EoR1 field is one of the coldest regions of the southern radio sky, but contains the very bright radio galaxy Fornax-A. The presence of this bright extended source in the primary beam of the interferometer makes the calibration and analysis of EoR1 particularly challenging. We demonstrate the effectiveness of a recently developed shapelet model of Fornax-A in improving the results from this field. We also describe and apply a series of data quality metrics that identify and remove systematically contaminated data. With substantially improved source models, upgraded analysis algorithms and enhanced data quality metrics, we determine EoR power spectrum upper limits based on analysis of the best ∼14-h data observed during 2015 and 2014 at redshifts 6.5, 6.8, and 7.1, with the lowest 2σ upper limit at z = 6.5 of Δ2 ≤ (73.78 mK)2 at k = 0.13 h Mpc−1, improving on previous EoR1 measurement results.
Abstract
We present new radio and optical images of the nearest radio galaxy Centaurus A and its host galaxy NGC 5128. We focus our investigation on the northern transition region, where energy is ...transported from the ∼5 kpc (∼5 arcmin) scales of the northern inner lobe (NIL) to the ∼30 kpc (∼30 arcmin) scales of the northern middle lobe (NML). Our Murchison Widefield Array observations at 154 MHz and our Parkes radio telescope observations at 2.3 GHz show diffuse radio emission connecting the NIL to the NML, in agreement with previous Australia Telescope Compact Array observations at 1.4 GHz. Comparison of these radio data with our wide-field optical emission-line images show the relationship between the NML radio emission and the ionized filaments that extend north from the NIL, and reveal a new ionized filament to the east, possibly associated with a galactic wind. Our deep optical images show clear evidence for a bipolar outflow from the central galaxy extending to intermediate scales, despite the non-detection of a southern radio counterpart to the NML. Thus, our observational overview of Centaurus A reveals a number of features proposed to be associated with active galactic nucleus feedback mechanisms, often cited as likely to have significant effects in galaxy evolution models. As one of the closest galaxies to us, Centaurus A therefore provides a unique laboratory to examine feedback mechanisms in detail.
ABSTRACT
Aiming to fill a crucial gap in our observational knowledge of the early Universe, experiments around the world continue to attempt to verify the claimed detection of the redshifted 21-cm ...signal from Cosmic Dawn by the EDGES experiment. This sky-averaged or ‘global’ signal from neutral hydrogen should be detectable at low radio frequencies (50–200 MHz), but is difficult to measure due to bright foreground emission and difficulties in reaching the required levels of instrumental-calibration precision. In this paper, we outline our progress toward using a novel new method to measure the global redshifted 21-cm signal. Motivated by the need to use alternative methods with very different systematic errors to EDGES for an independent result, we employ an array of closely spaced antennas to measure the global-sky signal interferometrically, rather than using the conventional approach with a single antenna. We use simulations to demonstrate our newly developed methods and show that, for an idealized instrument, a 21-cm signal could theoretically be extracted from the visibilities of an array of closely spaced dipoles. We verify that our signal-extraction methods work on real data using observations made with a Square-Kilometre-Array-like prototype, the Engineering Development Array-2. Finally, we use the lessons learned in both our simulations and observations to lay out a clear plan for future work, which will ultimately lead to a new global redshifted 21-cm instrument: the All-Sky SignAl Short-Spacing INterferometer (ASSASSIN).
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